Racks for pickup trucks are well known and are commonly used by electricians, painters, plumbers, roofers, and other similar craftsman to provide a means for carrying elongated articles, such as long pipes or ladders, on a pickup truck. These racks usually comprise a number of upright posts which are inserted into post holes provided in the sidewalls of the pickup truck and extend upwardly to the height of the cab of the truck. A square frame is mounted on top of the posts and provides the carrying area for the elongated articles.
Examples of various designs for racks for pickup trucks are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,566, issued to Tower; No. 3,217,449, issued to Levere; No. 3,594,035, issued to Ferguson; No. 3,765,713, issued to Suitt; No. 4,057,281, issued to Garrett; and No. 4,138,046, issued to DeFreze.
It is often convenient to have an enclosed area in which to carry other articles and in which the articles may be protected from inclement weather and the like. Shells for covering the beds of pickup trucks are well known and provide covers of this type. An example of such a shell is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,100 to Gardner.
It has not been possible to utilize a conventional rack with a conventional shell, since each must be mounted to the sidewalls of the bed of the pickup truck body, and neither accommodates the other. It would be extremely advantageous to have the capability of carrying supplies within a covered shell and at the same time have a rack upon which longer articles could be mounted on the same pickup truck.
Several solutions have been proposed to this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,330 to Boultinghouse discloses a specialized cover used in combination with a carrying rack. However, this solution requires a specially constructed shell supporting a rack, and the shell structure must be capable of supporting substantial loads. U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,286, issued to Harris, discloses a rack having a canopy or tarpaulin suspended over the bed of the pickup truck, but these coverings are flimsy and do not offer adequate protection to loads occupying the truck bed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,576 issued to Rinkle et al. shows a convertible rack having a tarpaulin covering, but this structure cannot perform load carrying and bed covering functions simultaneously. U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,331, issued to Faulstich, shows a rack which fits on top of a shell. However, this rack is also supported entirely by the shell, and thus requires a shell of considerable strength in order to support heavy items which may be placed on the rack. If the shell is not capable of holding these heavy items, the entire structure will fail.